


Dedicated To:

by haytherelouise



Series: Something To Come Home To [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 15:16:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11580717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haytherelouise/pseuds/haytherelouise
Summary: Every time Eren looks at his professor he's met with a flurry of memories he's not quite able to make out.  They shatter him and they put him back together, but Levi's too busy running away from him for Eren to really get a sense of which one it is.Or, a story in which Levi remembers everything and Eren remembers nothing, and the shorter man would much rather keep it that way.





	1. Before The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, it's been a while! I've been lacking motivation and inspiration to write, but I've recently come across some to help me through. I've missed writing a lot, so hopefully you're all looking forward to reading a lot from me soon!
> 
> tumblr: lazymissamberger.tumblr.com

The room was silent, but Eren could feel the weight of every word waiting to be said laying heavy across his shoulders. He didn't dare look up; afraid that all of the fragile and shaking resolve he'd spent months building up stick by stick would be shattered at the mere breath of his name on the lips his own longed to be kissing at this moment. His hands were clenched in fists against his sides, his face to the wall, eyes blinking rapidly at the tears pooling beneath his lashes. He wouldn't allow himself to cry. He couldn't let himself be so cruel to the man behind him, the man waiting for an answer to a question that, while not spoken aloud, smothered them both; heavy in the air.

"Eren," Levi whispered, his voice unable to carry the strength of more than a whisper, "you don't have to do this." His voice trembled and faltered ever so slightly, but it painted a pain so vividly, a pain that Eren knew only he could mirror. Only he could understand.

"I do, and you know I do," the brunet's hands were shaking, and he could feel himself starting to buckle under the storming stare behind him. He knew he couldn't allow himself to turn around, he knew that this was necessary, that his sacrifice would be made for the greater good of mankind. That was all he'd ever wanted, all he'd ever asked for in life was for the safety of his family, the safety of his friends. He had no right to be selfish after his wish had been granted. No right to hope for anything more. But still, despite everything in Eren screaming at him to stop, to keep up the shield he'd only put up to protect the man he so desperately and irrevocably loved, he turned.

Eren turned and he realized that he couldn't do it. He couldn't leave the man that he grew up with, the man that taught him how to be strong, the man that taught him what it felt to love so fiercely and so passionately that he was almost engulfed in it. Eren was in love, and tired, and so utterly devastated at the fact that this had to happen to him. And, for the first time in his life, he found himself wishing that he wasn't part of the survey corps. Eren found himself wishing that he wasn't one of the strong few that helped bring humanity from the brink of destruction. Eren found himself wishing that he had died all those years ago, hands clasped in his mother's, body crushed in the jaws of the titan that stole it all away.

He wanted to turn back around, to focus his eyes onto the wall that they'd been boring holes into the whole time he'd been trapped in this room with Levi, but it was too late now. It was too late to take away the image of the man in front of him.

Levi was crying.

There was no sound coming from the shorter mans mouth, no crease in his brow or frown in his lip. The tears just seemed to flow endlessly from his gray eyes, his cheeks flushed, and chest heaving silently, palms faced towards Eren, reaching for the boy he didn't want to leave.

"Please," Levi breathed, his heart throbbing in his chest, fingers tingling as they made contact with the rough canvas of Eren's jacket, "don't leave me."

Eren's breath hitched, his hands uncurling from their fists, palms quickly making contact with the skin of Levi's cheeks. He watched his thumbs caress the pale skin in front of him, scarred and wrinkled from the years he's lived; from the years he's fought to stay alive. In that moment, Eren was struck with the memories of their years together, the memories of all that they'd shared with each other. Every heated kiss upon his skin surrounded by the darkness of his room, the moon shining through his window, bringing to light a soft smile with tired eyes. Every scalding word thrown carelessly across the air, met only with an impassive stare and a cutting phrase. He saw it all again, felt it all again, and as his fingers made contact with the wetness of the tears streaming down Levi's cheeks, Eren was filled with a surge of renewed resolve.

Eren bent his head down to press a kiss to his lover's forehead, and in that moment Levi's hands dropped, and he finally allowed his sob to escape his mouth, his grey eyes crumpling just as his own frame did. His breaths left his throat ragged, and Eren left his hands cold and empty as he walked around to the door and left.

They would meet again.


	2. Not Quite A First Impression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren happens to be just as late as his college professor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are! Hello, and thank you for continuing to read on ^^ This whole work is definitely not perfect, haha. I can't even say that the writing is all that good, so I'm basically just hoping that y'all don't have your expectations set too high lol. I'm really just doing this for fun (and honestly I needed to get this story out of myself bc I'm so tired of my unorganized imagination). As always, opinions are welcome, but please be kind!
> 
> My tumblr is: lazymissamberger.tumblr.com if y'all wanna talk!

Eren squint his eyes against the beaming sunlight, his face warm underneath the rays. He didn't want to get up. He felt cozy--comfortable, even--despite the fact that he was currently outside, feeling a little gross with his back just a bit damp from the grass beneath it.

And it was in that moment of mild discomfort that he realized he wasn't in his messy room on his messy bed. No; with a slow rotation of his head, Eren could confirm that he was currently out in some foreign land, some land that had a strikingly blue sky, and distant trees so much taller than anything he'd ever seen in his life. Still, despite the fact that he now knew he was somewhere that clearly wasn't Seattle, Eren couldn't find it in himself to feel scared, or even the slightest bit wary. It felt familiar for reasons he couldn't explain.

A deep ache in his chest began to grow stronger with the realization that he had been here; he had seen this vivid sky, and smelled this crisp air. Eren took another minute to absorb his environment, and then lifted his arms in a stretch before dropping them once again at his sides, and pushing himself up slowly to stand. Now fully aware of everything around him, he found that he was breathless. Tears began to prick at his eyes, and he raised a hand to clench at the leather straps and fabric laying atop his throbbing heart.

There were yellow tulips everywhere, for as far as the eye could see. The golden shine was almost blinding against the light beaming atop them. Eren began to walk through the abundance of flowers, but he was drowning, each petal suffocating the movement of his strong legs, every stem weaving between his ankles causing him to stumble. He knew that the level of dread and fear pooling in the pit of his stomach was one equal to the fear of dying. There was nothing to stop his heart from shattering, nothing to keep each breath from feeling as if it were clawing up his throat. But he wasn't dying, and even if he was confused and terrified, he knew that. What he didn't know was how he'd become familiar with the feeling of it in the first place.

But before he was gone he had to do something. He had to find... _someone_.

“Eren,” a voice murmured, deep and warm and so very familiar. It lifted him up from his sunken state, dragged him from the smothering beauty all around him.

Eren turned towards the voice, his arms reaching instinctively, his words silent but lips forming around a name he didn't know regardless. His eyes sought for a figure he tried so hard to recall, and for a few fleeting seconds he swore that he could see the strong curve of a jaw, or the sharp twist of a brow. But all too soon, it was gone, and everything around Eren collapsed into darkness before he felt himself falling back into the hole that had opened underneath him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Eren shot up from his bed, his dark hair matted against the sweat dripping from his forehead. His breathing was heavy, body sticking to the wrinkled sheets darkened with moisture. He let himself stay still, trying to calm the heart threatening to pound straight out of his chest. After a few silent moments, the brunet began to twist himself from the blankets, sparing nothing but a quick glance towards the glowing clock on his nightstand.

Well, it was supposed to be quick, but when Eren was finally hit with how late it was, he couldn't help but glance again, staring speechless at the clock, his jaw hanging in disbelief. Quickly, he leaped from his bed and ran across the room before sliding across the papers he'd left there last night. With a pained grunt he skid on his face, but that wasn't enough to stop Eren's rush, and with a groan he pushed up from the floor and ran straight to the bathroom.

It was good enough to use mouthwash alone, right?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This was it, his first day of college, and already he'd spilled coffee all over two of his rented textbooks, cracked the screen of his phone by dropping it face-first on the pavement, and twisted his ankle scrambling over the piles of oil paints left by Mikasa all over their living room floor. He ran a hand through his hair, fingers pushing roughly through the tangled brown mess of locks it was met with, and sighed, looking down at the ground in an effort to keep from tripping over anything else, should he make the pain in his ankle any worse. With an exasperated groan, he whipped his head back up, his cheeks blazing red. He was wearing two different socks.

Eren was running _extremely _late—by twenty minutes, to be exact--and he wishes that he could've said that it was the latest he'd ever been, but that would have been bullshit. He crumpled the note Armin had left on his door and jammed it in his pocket as he ran through the campus of his university, dreading the moment he got home, knowing for certain that the little blond elf would be waiting and annoyed. Though, in all honesty, there was a good reason for it, as Eren knew that his best friend had probably spent over half an hour trying to wake him up in time for class.__

__He hadn't had a dream that vivid since he was ten years old; and Eren was more than fine with that. They'd been too confusing for his small mind to comprehend, too real for his child-like emotions to handle. Of course, now the only thing he could remember about those sleeping experiences were what he'd felt when he woke up; such as the sweat dripping from his chin, or the tears streaming down his eyes._ _

__It wasn't too different from what he'd experienced this morning, he supposed._ _

__Eren finally stopped himself against the brick wall of his class' building, his sneakers scuffing roughly against the pavement and a sharp pain shooting up his leg at his abrupt actions. He tugged lightly on his hoodie, and put his knee up against the wall to fix his jeans. Fear Of God, Off White, and some basic Nike's. His outfit today, while quickly put together, was still far from sloppy, which was something that Eren was both proud and grateful for. Proud because he knew his clothes and personal sense of style was pretty fucking bad ass, and grateful because the choice of his clothes today had been entirely up to his floor and whether or not they passed the sniff test._ _

__“Excuse me, but I do believe that you're blocking the entrance to my class. So...move.”_ _

__Eren jumped at the sudden voice from his side, and felt himself begin to fall at his loss of balance before a strong hand was gripping his bicep and pulling him up. Usually, he'd have felt impressed at the strength of this stranger; Eren was a frequent at his university's gym and he was well aware that his build was not light, but at the moment he was filled with nothing but annoyance at the presence still holding his arm._ _

__Did he have to say it like that?_ _

__With a rough tug he pulled himself away from the stranger, and shook himself a bit to make sure all was in place. Afterwards, Eren looked up with a glare, his heated words rising from his throat, and he was so ready to give this ass a piece of his mind. But one look was all it took for the words to falter in his mouth. He stood there gaping for a bit longer than he'd like to admit at the figure that was more than a head shorter than him._ _

__Now that wasn't to say that he looked weak, because that was the last thing that Eren believed the stranger to be. Even being more than a full head shorter, the brunet believed that the man could kick his ass with his hands tied behind his back and his eyes blindfolded, and even then it wouldn't be much of a challenge. This man was all sharp lines and hard muscle. His gray eyes were narrow and piercing, framed perfectly in a pale face with a strong jaw, a defined nose, and an almost surprisingly soft mouth._ _

__“Hello? Did you hear me?” the deep voice shot through Eren's heart, and he blinked, clearing his throat._ _

__“Uh...” he started dumbly, internally groaning at himself, “Um...Sorry,” he murmured quickly, before quickly opening the door and scurrying inside. He didn't turn around, or even open the door for the handsome stranger behind him, and he held his head low before siting in the back, his cheeks burning red._ _

__It was just his luck, of course, to have some hot classmate see him make a complete mess of himself. Still, he was going to force himself to stay positive. There was still the rest of the quarter left, and he'd be dammed if he left things as they were. The guy was too gorgeous to be left alone. He'd try at least once more. Just so his reputation at least wasn't tainted. Just once._ _

__“Good morning class, I do apologize for my tardiness, but I can say I'm glad there are still quite a few of you despite the time._ _

__That voice. That was a voice Eren had heard less than a minute ago. That was a voice coming from the handsome man currently standing in front of the class, glasses perched at the top of his nose, pen placed behind his ear._ _

__“My name is Levi Ackerman, but call me Levi,” a whisper of a smile formed on his lips as he scanned the room, “I'm going to be your Art 121 professor. Let's have a good year, yeah?”_ _

__Fuck._ _


End file.
